Here, friend, are some catchers that I will be targeting at my 2013 fantasy drafts after the top options are gone. I’m not going to get into the strategy of punting catchers. Been there, half-drunkenly wrote that two years ago. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2013 projections. This is a (legal-in-most-countries) supplement to the top 20 catchers of 2013 fantasy baseball. Now, guys and four girl readers, I am not saying avoid catchers like Wieters, Rosario, et al (which is not the Israeli airline). To get on this list, you need to be drafted later than 200 overall. Right now, Rosario looks like a steal at ESPN at an ADP of 187, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, kazoo. And, to preemptively answer at least seven comments, yes, I will go around the entire infield, outfield and pitchers to target very late. Anyway, here’s some catchers to target for 2013 fantasy baseball:

Chris Iannetta – (MDC ADP 315) Picture you walk into the mall with your lady friend and there’s a sale that she really wants to check out, so you sit and play Words With Friends. It’s a nice diversion for about thirty minutes, but then you start looking around to see if anyone’s paying attention to you so you can scratch your balls. Then you start to think you should’ve stayed home so you can scratch yourself any time you want. Iannetta is the last five minutes of Words With Friends at the mall. He’ll probably give you a scratch that you can’t itch.

Welington Castillo – (Yahoo ADP 333; MDC ADP 284) Boeuf is probably going to be useless outside of NL-Only leagues. I didn’t even rank him in my top 20 (26), but he did have a solid year at Triple-A in 2011, hitting 15 homers and .286. Hitting that high of an average again in the majors this year seems unlikely with his K-rate. He has the makings for a surprise 15 to 20 homers, but might not sniff over a .240 average. The Steamer/Razzball projections give him decent catcher numbers. For 2013, I’ll give him the line of 49/14/54/.239. On the fo’ really, I wouldn’t draft him in mixed, one catcher leagues, but after his first homer in April, I could see adding him.

J.P. Arencibia – Sky already gave Just Peachy a sleeper post. There he said, “Naked pictures of Bea Arthur…” “…into MY TARDIS” “…how clever….” “…ugly terrible awful…” “…sex is to chocolate.” Hmm, I gotta work on what quotes I pull.

Travis d’Arnaud – (Yahoo ADP 235; MDC ADP 280) He’s actually being overdrafted a tad in Yahoo for his current playing time situation. The Mets have John Buck as their resident propsblock. If dude’Arnaud (full Christian name) gets the starting job out of Spring Training, I’ll be crazy/sexy/cool excited about him, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Rob Brantley – I liked Rob Brantley better when he was only a random name I picked out of the Yellow Pages to use when I’m in the Witness Protection Program. Seriously, his name sounds fake. Who is Rob Brantley of the Miami Marlins hiding from?! Oh, I know, baseball fans.

Ryan Doumit – (Yahoo ADP 216) Well, here’s an exciting name! If Doumit can somehow get another full season of ABs, he could easily be a top 10 catcher for all the kingdom of baseball and its giant PED moat.

Jordan Pacheco – (Yahoo ADP 311) When Rudy wrote up the effects of Yahoo eligibility, he said, “I have Pacheco projected as only getting about 300 PAs this year but he could hit 20 HRs if he could win the Rockie 1B or 3B job at some point this season.” That’s slightly crummy with crackers. Pacheco probably won’t get 8 homers with a full-time job, but he should offer good counting stats, so I’d draft him in 2-catcher leagues. Remember, Yahoo is only place he has catcher eligibility. After Yahoo gave and revoked Wil Myers’ catcher eligibility, I’m more surprised everyone doesn’t have catcher eligibility in Yahoo. “I’m gonna draft Pujols as a catcher, then I’m gonna draft Longoria to play catcher, then I’m gonna write a strongly-worded email to my parole officer.” That’s you on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Before I even consider this bunch, I’m still targeting Perez with Lucroy as my fall back option. If I remember correctly, Perez is going around 140 and Lucroy 180 on yahoo. Enough catchers should be off the board, I shouldn’t have to reach for Perez, but if someone else does, Lucroy is a nice consolation prize. Do you like these adps or too high for you?

I picked up Perez last season and stashed him on the DL and consequently will be using a keeper slot on him this year. Lucroy makes for a great fall back plan (so long as he stays away from falling luggage). He never gets much notice, at least in my league, and he’s gotten better every year.

I’m running a roto auction on Yahoo with OBP instead of AVG. It’s a $20 buy-in which I collect through LeagueSafe. I have 9 members right now and I’d love to get a couple more. If you’re interested, email me at [email protected].

G’morning. If we are asked to cozy up to General Wellington Castillo (of Spanish War glory), shouldn’t Devin Mesoraco also be listed? Aren’t their upsides similar and similarly reachable? First question is rhetorical; second one is not.

@ Grey: I can keep 3 players out of this group in a H2H points league (Singles, RBI, Runs, SB’s, Walks are all +1, Doubles +2, Triples +3, HR +4, with Caught Stealing and K’s -1). They essentially count as the first 3 picks of the draft. (As an aside, this is a keeper league where you can keep players for up to 3 years and this would be year 2 for all of the below).
Prince Fielder / Ian Kinsler / Mike Trout / Giancarlo Stanton / Billy Butler

What’s your take on Mike Napoli? Am I in the minority thinking that he’s going to have a monster year playing first, getting more at bats than every other catcher and his power should play well in Boston, as well as in NY, Tor, etc, etc. I realize the hips an issue, but not playing behind the plate should help keep him fresh. And everything I’ve read says it’s a long term issue, but that he hasn’t had any setbacks and he doesn’t even feel the hip when he’s playing.

I just see a guy that could end up being a at least a top 2 or 3 option at C, if he gets the at bats I’m thinking he should as an everyday first. Seem’s like a cheat code to me, but most of the ‘perts’ aren’t ranking him very high.

like Napoli a lot. From what I hear, the nature of the injury is that it does not hamper performance, but it does carry a risk that a larger, season ending injury could come any time. Tomorrow, next month, next year or never. Basically a fantasy owner is taking the same gamble the Red Sox take. If he stays healthy, could get big production at a discount. Basically figure without the hip worries, he’d be much higher in the ranks so if he makes through most of the year, you can pretty much guarantee you’ve got a bargain.

I’ve reached that point in the winter where I’ve considered my keeper selections for so long that nothing makes sense anymore and I may not be thinking straight. We keep 16, it’s a 12 team roto style league with: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OPS, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP, K/BB and a 1500 IP limit. Right now I’m thinking:

Highlights of guys I’m letting go include: Utley, LaRoche, Morse, Dom Brown, Sano, Wong, Jansen, Reed. I can envision scenarios where I don’t keep Alvarez, Napoli or Holland, but I think that rolling with my current squad of keepers will give me the best chance to win this year. You would be most likely to convince me to keep Utley over Alvarez or Napoli, but that may be crazy talk. Homeboy who is our current champion has won four years in a row and he must go down.

If I go with my current choices, my greatest draft needs (other than pitching) will be adding about 200 runs, 100 RBI, and 50 SB out of my empty MI, OF, and UTIL spots. Totally doable.

I don’t want to break up with Chase Utley, but I think that it’s best for both of us. I’m confident that if I keep him he’s going to blow out both knees and spend the rest of the year banging his wife, Jennifer, in front of the animals over at the SPCA. If I let him go, I think he can rattle off his last great season.

Hi Grey-
not sure if this move makes me better for my 5×5 H2H 10 tm league. Current Keepers: Braun, Votto, Longo, Verlander, Cain.
we are allowed to trade draft picks and did so last year. Draft looks a little spotty early on. My first 5 picks come at 55, 84, 86, 104, 106.
what is your advice on this offer:
– I get Starlin Castro, Strasburg, and the first overall pick in the draft for either Braun or Votto and pick 155?

@Grey: Sorry – we only keep 5. accepting that trade would cause me to throw back cain into the keepers and then focus on hitting with my earliest picks riding Verlander and Stras to the 12th round and then working on pitching.

Shameless plug for a Razzball Commenter league! Standard RCL settings, $50 buy in with PayPal. Have 4 owners, need 8 more. Draft is tentatively scheduled for Sunday the 24th at 3 pm. E-mail for more details and league invite.

I’m in a 20 team h2h dynasty league. I am next to pick in my draft. The following are the best players available: Kevin Gausman George springer Gary Sanchez yasiel puig oswaldo arcia Bruce Rondon Michael Wacha.l zach lee

@Grey: Goodnight, fantasy baseballers, well it’s time to go,
Goodnight, fantasy baseballers, we couldn’t cut it in the show,
I hate to leave you, but I really can’t play,
Goodnight, fantasy baseballers, goodnight.

What are your thoughts on Wilson Ramos. I had him last year and was pleased with his production until the injury. Looks like this year he is completely out of mind and falling in drafts. I am in a 2C league with 10 reserves. Is he worth a reserve round flyer as a backup?

I’m in an NL-only league with rules about owning a certain number of players from each team (must own one, can’t exceed two, can’t start two hitters from the same team on the same day). Here’s my roster after our draft:

Great stuff as always, Grey. I’ve never invested more than $10 on a catcher in my league. Speaking of that league, 16 teams (going from 14 to 16 this year), $260 budget, 5×5 but with OBP and SLG to replace AVG and HR. Can keep as many as I want, so always tough to decide on the borderline guys. I’m torn on Berkman ($6), Alcides Escobar ($6) and Madson ($6). I don’t see any of them as amazing value, but I like Berkman as a sleeper and Escobar is an Andrus light. Given that the two new teams have $260 to spend at auction, I’m thinking the values on all three are decent. Would you throw any of them back?

I have the 11th pick in my fantasy draft coming up. We are doing a yahoo league so the players that I have been finding available in mocks are:
1. Stanton
2. Verlander
3. Tulo
4. Beltre
5. Hamilton
6. Strasburg
7. Bautista
8. Strasburg

Who should I take with the 11th and 13th pick assuming a Cargo or Prince doesn’t fall to me?

@Grey: Yeah, I’ve read the top 20 and used it a lot in mocks, but it doesn’t make sense to use in this situation because you have guys like gonzo, kinsler and adam jones who have been falling in the late 3rd-early 4th round of YAHOO drafts.

Unrelated to catchers, but wanted to check back in on some of your rankings from earlier…

Originally in the top 40/60 OFs you had Fowler at 37 and Chris Davis around 42. But in the top 400 rankings you have Davis way higher — around 95 and Fowler in the low-mid 100s. I’m curious if its circumstantial — meaning relative to all players Davis is a little better than compared exclusively to OFs. Or if your opinion of Davis and Fowler changed over the few weeks between the rankings.

Do you see them as contributing similar value split between speed and power or do you see one as the clear better asset over the other?

@Grey: I would be playing both/either at OF… and I have more power depth than speed. In that case, do you see Fowler as the better asset, or does positional flexibility, prospect pedigree, and general scarcity of 30 HR talent make Davis still the clear winner?

Awesome stuff, Grey. In your 15-team LABR league, you and Rudy drafted Arencibia and Beef Wellington. In hindsight, is that what you wanted? Specifically, Avila went a bit early in the 13th round so I didn’t know if you were hoping to draft him and Arencibia. To point out how early Avila was taken, your next 4 picks were Axford, Berkman, Beckett and Estrada. And your pick right before Avila was taken was Garza pre-injury. Given the great talent you drafted in lieu of taking Avila or some other catcher earlier seems to prominently reinforce what I’ve learned from you about punting catchers. But I just wanted to check on the extent to which you recommend punting catchers. Second part of question is, if I wanted to go for Avila and Arencibia in a similar league style (2 C’s, etc etc), is it smart to reach, and how much should I reach a round or two for both guys to avoid getting a second catcher that is ranked farther down your leaderboard? Thanks in advance.

– With this format, most everyone fills out their P slots with middle relievers. The value of mid-level starters is depreciated – guys undrafted include: Cahill, AJ Burnett, Bailey, Garcia, Hanson, McCarthy, Dempster, Ryu, etc – but this set-up also increases the value/importance of having at least a couple bedrock SPs.
– Was hoping to get either Craig or Hosmer at 13 – am stoked to have both, feel very strong at 1b going fwd.
– Once I did that, wanted to go strong with two stud SPs back-to-back and then not worry about my staff.
– Stoked to get Profar! – especially where I did and still able to fill out my team elsewhere.
– No idea why/how (a) I took Span two rounds before Cuddyer, (b) Cuddyer was still there three rounds later (round 16!), (c) … , nor (d) if I should be worried about why he fell so low?
– Leonys Martin went undrafted. Considering our format and my team, would you advocate dropping Pryor (who could get some holds/is my hand cuff to Wilhelmsen) just to have Martin on my bench? Or keep my handcuff/bullpen in tact?

I’m in a 16 team 5×5 roto 4 keepers league and catchers have seemed to go at a premimum in the past…I’m thinking to punt it and wait on Mesoroco, Grandal, D’arnaud or Zunino to get jobs…I’m leaning towards Grandal regardless of suspension just because of his success last year…thoughts?